Matt Higgins

And what I mean by that is no power, disenfranchised and disenchanted with the system, school, support networks, family, everybody letting me down. And I was like a sweet little happy kid, you know, but by the time I was around 10 years old, I was like, you know what? Nobody gives a shit. And the reality is this is going to end horribly.

And what I mean by that is no power, disenfranchised and disenchanted with the system, school, support networks, family, everybody letting me down. And I was like a sweet little happy kid, you know, but by the time I was around 10 years old, I was like, you know what? Nobody gives a shit. And the reality is this is going to end horribly.

And so I need to sever with the reality of being a child and I need to become an adult now. And it happened around 10. It was like an incident that I don't really go into. But when I realized the cavalry is not coming. And so that did cultivate an extreme level of defiance. And a feeling that I'm going to have to hack my way.

And so I need to sever with the reality of being a child and I need to become an adult now. And it happened around 10. It was like an incident that I don't really go into. But when I realized the cavalry is not coming. And so that did cultivate an extreme level of defiance. And a feeling that I'm going to have to hack my way.

You know, it's fine when your life no longer matches the reality of your peers. They're going to school and having somewhat of a normal existence. And I'm sitting there standing on line on behalf of a ticket scalper so I could buy tickets to a concert all night. And then he's going to pay me for waiting.

You know, it's fine when your life no longer matches the reality of your peers. They're going to school and having somewhat of a normal existence. And I'm sitting there standing on line on behalf of a ticket scalper so I could buy tickets to a concert all night. And then he's going to pay me for waiting.

Like when the departure becomes so great, you realize there's no point leaning into the system's rules and you need to make your own. So I don't absent... My upbringing, I would have been that sweet little cherubic kid, you know, with little chubby cheeks, but it was that sense of being let down. The positive, it stoked a fierce level of defiance and independence, and that birthed my epiphany.

Like when the departure becomes so great, you realize there's no point leaning into the system's rules and you need to make your own. So I don't absent... My upbringing, I would have been that sweet little cherubic kid, you know, with little chubby cheeks, but it was that sense of being let down. The positive, it stoked a fierce level of defiance and independence, and that birthed my epiphany.

So my mom, when she left my dad, she got her GED at a local college, and then she enrolled in Queens College. And she would take me to classes, starting at a very young age, 10 years old or whatever it was, And I saw an ad in a newspaper, and it said that you could deliver flyers for this local congressman, and you could make $8 an hour. And I think I was making $3.75 at McDonald's.

So my mom, when she left my dad, she got her GED at a local college, and then she enrolled in Queens College. And she would take me to classes, starting at a very young age, 10 years old or whatever it was, And I saw an ad in a newspaper, and it said that you could deliver flyers for this local congressman, and you could make $8 an hour. And I think I was making $3.75 at McDonald's.

$8 an hour, college students only. And I was like, what is it about a college student that's going to enable me to 2x my salary? And I became obsessed with the following. What if I were to drop out of high school on purpose, like my mother did? Because if you're a product of abuse, what if I did it on purpose, took my GED at 16? Technically, there was a loophole back then.

$8 an hour, college students only. And I was like, what is it about a college student that's going to enable me to 2x my salary? And I became obsessed with the following. What if I were to drop out of high school on purpose, like my mother did? Because if you're a product of abuse, what if I did it on purpose, took my GED at 16? Technically, there was a loophole back then.

Anybody with a good enough GED score could go to any college in America, all the way up to Harvard. And that was probably like a, what I say, noblesse oblige. Like, we will let you come into college, even though your life is a screw up. Nobody ever probably used it. But I became so excited. Like, I have a way out. I became giddy. And then we can get into this if you want to now.

Anybody with a good enough GED score could go to any college in America, all the way up to Harvard. And that was probably like a, what I say, noblesse oblige. Like, we will let you come into college, even though your life is a screw up. Nobody ever probably used it. But I became so excited. Like, I have a way out. I became giddy. And then we can get into this if you want to now.

But when I started sharing with everybody this plan, I was met with equally fierce resistance.

But when I started sharing with everybody this plan, I was met with equally fierce resistance.

Yeah, we can get into that. So I put language around this as I got older to try to explain the difference. But The reality is I was what I call an edge case. I'm somebody who's working overnight at a deli. I'm doing all these things. I'm an edge case, not the base case that has some degree of a functioning family unit that can go to school.

Yeah, we can get into that. So I put language around this as I got older to try to explain the difference. But The reality is I was what I call an edge case. I'm somebody who's working overnight at a deli. I'm doing all these things. I'm an edge case, not the base case that has some degree of a functioning family unit that can go to school.

And when you're part of a bureaucracy, whether it be a school or a corporation, when you're an edge case or an outlier, the rules don't work for you, right? So, but when you consult people whose job it is to protect the status quo, like a guidance counselor, and when you come up with something that's designed for the edge case, They think you're out of your mind.

And when you're part of a bureaucracy, whether it be a school or a corporation, when you're an edge case or an outlier, the rules don't work for you, right? So, but when you consult people whose job it is to protect the status quo, like a guidance counselor, and when you come up with something that's designed for the edge case, They think you're out of your mind.